Album review
Nowhere
Ride
Nowhere brings a strong rhythm section into music built from overlapping guitar layers. Ride can make an enormous sound, but the songs remain melodic and the singing has a gen…
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Reviews
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Album review
Stardust
Willie Nelson
Stardust gives familiar songs a remarkably personal setting. Willie Nelson takes ten pop standards and approaches them with the ease of a country singer, the rhythmic freedom …
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Album review
Return To Dust
Return To Dust
Return To Dust give their debut a clear identity through heavy guitar and two voices that fit closely together. The grunge influence is easy to hear, especially in the darker …
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Album review
Made by These Moments
The Red Clay Strays
Made by These Moments puts The Red Clay Strays' powerful singing inside a fuller southern-rock sound. The guitars can be busy and loud, but Brandon Coleman's voice rarely lose…
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Album review
What If
Dixie Dregs
What If gives Dixie Dregs' instrumental music a clear sense of fun. Heavy guitar lines, fast jazz-rock passages, country rhythms and delicate acoustic playing all fit into the…
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Album review
Red Headed Stranger
Willie Nelson
Red Headed Stranger asks for close attention through small gestures. Willie Nelson tells a story of violence, loss and a wandering preacher with unusually spare country music.…
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The Bones of a Dying World
If These Trees Could Talk
The Bones of a Dying World makes a strong case for the simple pleasure of layered guitars. If These Trees Could Talk build their instrumental songs around bright melodies, a s…
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In Due Time
Submersed
In Due Time gives Submersed a strong introduction through expressive singing and guitar parts that do more than support the choruses. The music stays close to accessible post-…
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Shrine of New Generation Slaves
Riverside
Riverside put melody and atmosphere ahead of constant heaviness on Shrine of New Generation Slaves. The Polish band's fifth album still has firm guitar riffs and busy instrume…
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New Killer America
Skrape
New Killer America gives its heavy riffs a more atmospheric setting than the basic style might suggest. Skrape use keyboards, prominent bass and Billy Keeton's varied voice to…
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Album review
Unison Life
Brutus
Unison Life makes a big sound with a small line-up. Brutus use guitar, bass, drums and Stefanie Mannaerts' voice to create songs that can be fierce and fragile within a few se…
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Manor of Infinite Forms
Tomb Mold
Manor of Infinite Forms has a heavy sound, but Tomb Mold leave their riffs enough room to move. The guitars follow unusual routes without losing their direct force. The produc…
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Album review
Great Escape
Crippled Black Phoenix
Great Escape builds a large, melancholy world from guitars, keyboards, electronics and contrasting voices. Crippled Black Phoenix often favour a gradual rise in intensity over…
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Album review
No Feeling Is Final
Maybeshewill
No Feeling Is Final gives Maybeshewill's return a broad, carefully arranged sound. Guitars still have an important role, but strings, keyboards, brass and electronics help car…
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Album review
II
Fuzz
II gives Fuzz more room to develop their heavy guitar rock. The riffs remain large and the bass stays firm beneath the music, but the band let songs take different directions …
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Album review
Shine On Rainy Day
Brent Cobb
Shine on Rainy Day takes its time. Brent Cobb brings country, soul and gentle roots rock together in arrangements that favour a natural feel over a polished surface. His Georg…
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Album review
Saosin
Saosin
Saosin's self-titled debut makes technical playing sound immediate. The guitars move around each other, the drums stay busy, and Cove Reber's high voice gives the songs a clea…
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Album review
Letting Go
Earshot
Letting Go gives Earshot a convincing sound before it gives them a convincing identity. The guitars are tense and substantial, the band play closely together, and Will Martin'…
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Album review
Holy Doom
Demob Happy
Holy Doom makes its point through the relationship between rough guitars and smooth vocal harmonies. Demob Happy keep the bass and drums close to the centre, giving their psyc…
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Album review
Song Up in Her Head
Sarah Jarosz
Song Up in Her Head immediately establishes Sarah Jarosz as a singer, writer and musician. Her mandolin and banjo can attract attention through speed, but the songs offer more…
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Album review
Pitfalls
Leprous
Leprous make the voice the centre of Pitfalls. Guitars still have a place, but synths, strings and electronic rhythms carry much of the Norwegian band's sixth album. Einar Sol…
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Album review
Hope
Swallow the Sun
Hope makes its weight felt mainly through melody. Swallow the Sun have plenty of deep growls and heavy riffs, but the gloomy atmosphere comes just as strongly from the guitar …
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Album review
Elegant Gypsy
Al Di Meola
Elegant Gypsy makes Al Di Meola's fast guitar playing part of a wider musical conversation. Rock, jazz and Latin rhythms meet in arrangements that give the keyboards, bass and…
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Album review
Roots Rock Riot
Skindred
Roots Rock Riot connects Skindred's heavy guitars with rhythms that invite movement. The combination of metal, punk and reggae stays easy to follow, even when Benji Webbe quic…
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